Tripoli: Libya's Muammar Gaddafi used tanks, helicopters and warplanes to quell a growing revolt, witnesses said on Tuesday, as the veteran leader scoffed at reports he was fleeing after four decades in power.

Warplanes bombed portions of the capital Tripoli on Tuesday in new attacks in the Mediterranean coastal city, and mercenaries fired on civilians, Al Jazeera reported.

In the eastern town of Al Bayda, resident Marai Al Mahry told Reuters by telephone that 26 people including his brother Ahmed had been shot dead overnight by Gaddafi loyalists.

"They shoot you just for walking on the street," he said, sobbing uncontrollably as he appealed for help.

Protesters were being attacked with tanks and warplanes, he said.

"The only thing we can do now is not give up, no surrender, no going back. We will die anyways, whether we like it or not. It is clear that they don't care whether we live or not. This is genocide," said Mahry, 42.

Security forces have cracked down fiercely on demonstrators across the country, with fighting now spreading to Tripoli after erupting in Libya's oil-producing east last week following uprisings that have toppled leaders in Tunisia and Egypt.

Human Rights Watch says at least 233 people have been killed and opposition groups put the figure much higher but independent verification is impossible.

The revolt in OPEC member Libya has driven oil prices sharply higher, with U.S. crude for April delivery rising at one stage to almost $99, around a two-and-a-half-year high.

As the fighting has intensified across the country, cracks appeared among Gaddafi supporters. Some ambassadors resigning and calling for his removal, the justice minister resigned in protest and a group of army officers urged soldiers to "join the people." Two pilots flew their warplanes to nearby Malta.

DEFIANCE AND CONDEMNATION

Gaddafi's son Saif on Sunday vowed his father would keep fighting "until the last man standing" and the Libyan leader appeared on television after days of seclusion to dismiss reports he had fled to Venezuela, ruled by his friend President Hugo Chavez.

"I want to show that I'm in Tripoli and not in Venezuela. Do not believe the channels belonging to stray dogs," said Gaddafi, who has ruled Libya with a mixture of populism and tight control since taking power in a military coup in 1969.

World powers have condemned the use of force against protesters, with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon accusing Libya of firing on civilians from warplanes and helicopters.

"This must stop immediately," said Ban, adding he had spoken to Gaddafi and urged him to halt attacks on protesters. The Security Council was to discuss Libya at 1400 GMT, diplomats said.

Arab League ambassadors were to meet in emergency session in Cairo on Tuesday to discuss Libya, and the United States and Europe have demanded a halt to the killing of protesters.

The violence has triggered a revolt by Libya's diplomats, its ambassador to India, Ali al-Essawi, resigning over the crackdown and telling Reuters that African mercenaries had been recruited to help put down protests.

"The fall of Gaddafi is the imperative of the people in streets," he said.

Demonstrations have spread to Tripoli from the second city Benghazi, cradle of the revolt that has engulfed a number of towns and which residents say is now in the hands of protestors.

Residents said anxious shoppers were queuing outside stores to try to stock up on food and drink. Some shops were closed.
In Tripoli, one resident said locals were patrolling their neighborhood at night to protect it from roaming mercenaries, reporting sniper fire and the use of military transport helicopters to ferry security forces about.

"Gaddafi obviously does not have any limits. We knew he was crazy, but it's still a terrible shock to see him turning mercenaries on his own people and just mowing down unarmed demonstrators," one resident told Lisa Goldman, a Canadian-Israeli journalist based in Tel Aviv.

Cairo said Libyan guards had withdrawn from their side of the border. Egypt's new military rulers -- who took power following the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak on February11 -- said the main crossing would be kept open round-the-clock to allow the sick and wounded to enter.

ENERGY DISRUPTION

Trade sources reported operations at Libyan oil ports had been disrupted due to the unrest and others said gas supplies from Libya to Italy had slowed since late Monday. An Italian minister said supplies had not yet been interrupted.

Shell said it was pulling out its expatriate staff from Libya temporarily because of the unrest.

The upheavals which deposed the presidents of Tunisia and Egypt have shaken the Arab world and inspired protests across the Middle East and North Africa, threatening the grip of long-entrenched autocratic leaders.

A flamboyant figure with his flowing robes and bevy of female bodyguards, Gaddafi was famously branded a 'mad dog' by one U.S. president and has long been accused by the West of links to terrorism and revolutionary movements.

But this changed when Libya renounced its weapons of mass destruction to secure an end to its international isolation and a rapprochement with western governments, keen to tap its oil and gas wealth and lucrative trade and investment deals.